Ok, You win!

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Kendy,

I know I’ve been hard on you at times, but I wish you could see the big smile on my face right now! May God bless you, and keep you in His hands. I have Adoration tomorrow, and will devote my Holy Hour for your peace of mind.

Where do you live? Perhaps someone here on the forum could direct you to an orthodox and on-fire parish near you. This would help your peace of mind.
 
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Kendy:
Can I still go to prostestant church if I don’t receive communion? And go to mass later that day?

Kendy

P.S. Would I have to stop going to Christian concerts? As far as I can tell you guys don’t put on any. How is it that there are not more (any?) catholics producing contemporary music praising God? :mad:
Yes, but you shouldn’t participate in communion. Also, it’s not true that Catholics don’t have Christian music concerts! There was just one here not too long ago. There are Catholics producing contemporary music—Ignatius Press probably has some titles, and probably some here can give you some names (I’m more the Gregorian-chant type, so I can’t help you). And of course you can go to any concerts, Protestant or Catholic.
 
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Sherlock:
Kendy,

I know I’ve been hard on you at times, but I wish you could see the big smile on my face right now! May God bless you, and keep you in His hands. I have Adoration tomorrow, and will devote my Holy Hour for your peace of mind.

Where do you live? Perhaps someone here on the forum could direct you to an orthodox and on-fire parish near you. This would help your peace of mind.
Chicago
 
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Kendy:
Can I still go to prostestant church if I don’t receive communion? And go to mass later that day?

Kendy

P.S. Would I have to stop going to Christian concerts? As far as I can tell you guys don’t put on any. How is it that there are not more (any?) catholics producing contemporary music praising God? :mad:
EWTN has a regular program that features Catholic music artists…I can’t remember the name of the program…I think it is something like “backstage”… .can anyone verify this? Don’t worry, there are a lot of great things out there that are Catholic and entertaining as well. Both Dishnetwork and Direct TV feature the EWTN channel, as well as some “entertaining” protestant channels. Benny Hinn is a classic to watch. 😃
 
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Kendy:
Second, I love my church. I have never been around a group of people who are more committed to serving God and loving each other. The Hyde park Vineyard really exemplifies faith without works is dead. Anyone who doesn’t take their faith seriously would just uncomfortable being there. When I lost my job, the church came together and paid my rent. I would have never even thought of asking my catholic parish for that kind of help. Everything in my church is done with the utmost commitment to God. Our church secretary treats her job like a mission. She, like the majority of the people there, just exude with God’s love. How many homeless people attend your church? Hyde Park Vineyard takes, the poor you will have with you seriously. We not only invite them but are ministering to them. We have gotten them jobs, we are currently helping one woman get back to school. We have members all over the world working in orphanages, building schools for street children in Thailand, people risking their lives in Islamic countries to bring the gospel to muslims.

So, I have to leave that to go back to what I remember as just a bunch of lukewarm, 1 hr on Sunday only Christians.

I love my pastor! I think he would priests a run for their money. How am I going to tell him this?

Kendy
Find a parish that has an active Christian Service program, and specifically, an active Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP)conference. Join them. You will be out there working directly with the poor (in their homes if they have them, if not, then shelter is obviously priority)- helping them obtain food and clothing, housing, employment, medical and legal assistance, etc. Joining the conference at my parish was one of the best decisions I ever made. How many homeless people attend my parish? I have no idea. We don’t ask people whether or not they have homes, anyone who attends Mass is treated the same. Many of our clients, however, are parishoners. Many aren’t. It doesn’t matter a bit to us. If they come to us, we will help them in whatever way we can (and yes, that includes rent on occasion).

Honestly, comparing my current parish with the parish where I grew up is like comparing apples and oranges. My current parish is full of friendly people who are really faithful and active in the Church. We have youth ministries, Sunday school, bible studies, weekly Eucharistic adoration, senior citizen groups, monthly forums with prominent local Catholic speakers, health ministries, music ministries, etc. We also have reverent Masses, amazing and orthodox priests, a great deacon, and our lay ministers are top-notch and extremely dedicated to their jobs. For example, today was the 10th anniversary of our music director’s 1st day, and he has just been such a gift to the music ministry and the parish. He’s had offers at other parishes with better organs, but he stays with us because it’s a great place. Contrast that with my former parish, where the priests are orthodox, but the parish community is rather closed and insular. After 9 years in that parish, I declared myself an agnostic, refused my Confirmation, and swore that I was done with Catholicism. Fortunately the parish 10 minutes east was more than willing to welcome me home and has been my home for 11 years.

My point? Don’t judge the entire Church on your bad experience. You do a disservice to a lot of people by referring to us as “just a bunch of lukewarm, 1 hr on Sunday only Christians.” There are lots of great Catholic parishes out there, as well as many that are not-so-great. I am certain that this is true for Protestant churches as well- and if I only went by the example of my in-laws, I would probably think the same of Protestants as you do of Catholics. Fortunately my scope is a bit broader than that.

Welcome home.
 
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St.Eric:
EWTN has a regular program that features Catholic music artists…I can’t remember the name of the program…I think it is something like “backstage”… .can anyone verify this? Don’t worry, there are a lot of great things out there that are Catholic and entertaining as well. Both Dishnetwork and Direct TV feature the EWTN channel, as well as some “entertaining” protestant channels. Benny Hinn is a classic to watch. 😃
Benny Hinn is crook.

Kendy
 
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Malachi4U:
I found the truth in the last place I looked and the last place I expected to find it, the Catholic Church, His visible body on earth.
Wow, Malachi, that was my experience as well! 🙂 Christianity, in general, was the last religion I searched (in desperation!)-- and, lo and behold, I discovered it was the Truth! Later, as I grew in my faith, and longed for a church home, the Catholic Church was the last church I searched-- and, lo and behold, I discovered it was the Truth! God never ceases to surprise me! 😉

Glory to God!!!
 
Hey Kendy!

No… my friend…YOU win. 👍 Have a look at my story.

Don’t sweat what ya feel like though… remember all that stuff at the end of the “4 Spiritual Laws” tracts about where feelings fit into the walk of faith?

Do Not Depend on Feelings

"The promise of God’s Word, the Bible - not our feelings - is our authority. The Christian lives by faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God Himself and His Word. This train diagram illustrates the relationship among fact (God and His Word), faith (our trust in God and His Word), and feeling (the result of our faith and obedience) (John 14:21).

The train will run with or without a caboose. However, it would be useless to attempt to pull the train by the caboose. In the same way, as Christians we do not depend on feelings or emotions, but we place our faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God and the promises of His Word."

I’ve never seen it said better than that. I have to laugh becasue i think it’s correct because of 1st Timothy 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (Emphasis mine)

It’s not about “feelin’ good”, (though that will come and go over time), to me it’s about knowing that I am obeying God, and that is very cool. That is where I always wanna be.
Feel free to PM me if you wanna talk about anything.
Pax tecum,
 
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Kendy:
Can I still go to prostestant church if I don’t receive communion? And go to mass later that day?

Kendy

P.S. Would I have to stop going to Christian concerts? As far as I can tell you guys don’t put on any. How is it that there are not more (any?) catholics producing contemporary music praising God? :mad:
Kendy

Perhaps this is the reason why you are reluctant to come back? you mentioned that you believe that the Church is correct on a number of issues but you are still not happy.

Is this because you don’t find the mass exiting? I say this because you asked whether you could still go to a protestant church. I admit that the Mass may not seem exiting to a protestant, so often I hear about Protestants who move to other churches because they don’t feel “filled”. Going to Church is not about you, it’s about worshiping God.

I think sometimes Protestants are more concerned with enjoying themselves rather than worshiping God, with the elusion that entertainment is the same as worship.

If you feel the Doctrine of the Church is true than you should immerse yourself in its form of worship (the Mass). But by all means continue going to Protestant churches and concerts, just don’t confuse your own enjoyment with true worship.

Good luck and God bless
Levi
 
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Kendy:
Well, there were a couple issues. I had been struggling with communion for quite some time. It’s why I visited the website to begin with. I had read something by a second century father on it and I thought if anyone would know, it would be him sincde he was writing just 70 years after Christ’s death. And then on December 23, I was sitting outside my old parish at 10p.m. and the Holy Spirit revealed something to me about transubstiantiation that made me realize that it was extremely logical.

Another is authority. A few weeks ago, I was involved in a discussion about divorce with my very conservative housegroup, and all of them were inclined toward a more lenient view of divorce, probably because all of them had divorced family members. But I was so disappointed that my very conservative, biblical church members were willing to ignore Jesus’s very clear teaching about divorce. And don’t say that that’s the problem with sola scriptura. It’s a good time! I am not in the mood!

I also realize that despite the fact that evangelicals believe divoce is wrong, many churches just remarry people so the teaching goes in one ear and out of the other.

I also learned that all Christian churches rejected contraception as the fathers have taught for centuries. But in 1930, the Anglican church caved, and then every other Christian denomination caved to social pressure except the catholic church. While I am not entirely convinced of the wisdom of this position, I am impressed by the church’s tenacity in the face of opposition.

Redbandito did a pretty good job killing “once saved always saved” and I have to admit now the parable of the sower actually makes sense now. I had wondered in the pass how the seed that took root eventually got destroyed. It didn’t make sense.

I had also always wondered why my church doesn’t offer confession. Once I did something pretty serious and I spent all morning confessing to God but I could feel the weight of my sin on my back. Eventually, I went to my pastor and confessed it. He said, in the name of Jesus, your sins are forgiven, and at that very moment, I actually felt the weight I had been carrying around lifted. After that, I started thinking, we should have confession. I asked God how come when I confessed, it didn’t work, but I never got an answer.

So, why am I ambivalent. First, I know it’s petty but I don’t like catholic services.

Second, I love my church. I have never been around a group of people who are more committed to serving God and loving each other. The Hyde park Vineyard really exemplifies faith without works is dead. Anyone who doesn’t take their faith seriously would just uncomfortable being there. When I lost my job, the church came together and paid my rent. I would have never even thought of asking my catholic parish for that kind of help. Everything in my church is done with the utmost commitment to God. Our church secretary treats her job like a mission. She, like the majority of the people there, just exude with God’s love. How many homeless people attend your church? Hyde Park Vineyard takes, the poor you will have with you seriously. We not only invite them but are ministering to them. We have gotten them jobs, we are currently helping one woman get back to school. We have members all over the world working in orphanages, building schools for street children in Thailand, people risking their lives in Islamic countries to bring the gospel to muslims.

So, I have to leave that to go back to what I remember as just a bunch of lukewarm, 1 hr on Sunday only Christians.

I love my pastor! I think he would priests a run for their money. How am I going to tell him this?

Kendy
Sounds like a great church that is focused but is missing the fullness! Maybe you could talk a few of them into joining the true Church and help us all out!? Zeal is great and I think it’s very contagious 🙂 . But I do bid you the best and may God Bless you (Sounds like He already has!).
 
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JaneFrances:
Growing up we had a huge brass bell hanging on our back porch. Whenever we heard that bell, we knew that it was time to go home. Hearing that darned old bell wasn’t always music to our ears as we made our way through the neighborhood towards it’s loud and sometimes awful tones. It always seemed to ring at the wrong time.

However, looking back I can not think of one dinner that I would have chosen to miss. My little tummy was always filled and today I would give anything to sit around that big old table with all my siblings again!

Don’t ignore the bell. . .I know the pit it’s ring makes in the stomach, but going home is never the wrong choice.
That’s beautiful, Jane! Thanks…
 
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Singinbeauty:
Oh I agree with a lot of what the catholic church teaches but there are also some things that prevent me from believing it’s all it claims to be. If God is calling you to the catholic church Kendy I say go for it and don’t resist. (oh my goodness, a PROTESTANT just said that? 😉 ) If you need to talk I am here… Just PM me… I will support whatever decision you make and help you along that path any way I can! Good traveling! 🙂
Hi Kendy,
I have to agree with Singinbeauty here; if you feel God is calling you to the Catholic Church, then by all means submit to His will. Please be absolutely certain before you do though. I looked into Catholicism for years and came so close to getting baptized, but several things kept me out. Until I can say with absolute certainty that I agree with the teachings, then I can’t in all good conciousness make that vow to God. It is incredible how sad I felt when I realized I was not ‘joining’ the Church. Perhaps one day…
I digress…Please get some spiritual guidance from a Spiritual director, or a Priest; perhaps they can help you feel happier about your decision. ‘Coming home’ should be a joyous event, You shouldn’t feel like you are a naughty child being drug home by your ear, like it or lump it.
I pray you find the peace you seek.

Peace and love
 
Chuch Militant,

Read your testimony. I am sorry you had such a rough time, especially with that baptist preacher and the Holy Spirit. That’s really dumb, but I can’t say the same. I have had wonderful experiences!

Well, you go ahead and celebrate on my behalf 😦

Kendy
Church Militant:
Hey Kendy!

No… my friend…YOU win. 👍 Have a look at my story.

Don’t sweat what ya feel like though… remember all that stuff at the end of the “4 Spiritual Laws” tracts about where feelings fit into the walk of faith?
http://www.greatcom.org/laws/english/images/train.gif
Do Not Depend on Feelings

"The promise of God’s Word, the Bible - not our feelings - is our authority. The Christian lives by faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God Himself and His Word. This train diagram illustrates the relationship among fact (God and His Word), faith (our trust in God and His Word), and feeling (the result of our faith and obedience) (John 14:21).

The train will run with or without a caboose. However, it would be useless to attempt to pull the train by the caboose. In the same way, as Christians we do not depend on feelings or emotions, but we place our faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God and the promises of His Word."

I’ve never seen it said better than that. I have to laugh becasue i think it’s correct because of 1st Timothy 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (Emphasis mine)

It’s not about “feelin’ good”, (though that will come and go over time), to me it’s about knowing that I am obeying God, and that is very cool. That is where I always wanna be.
Feel free to PM me if you wanna talk about anything.
Pax tecum,
 
I know the difference between entertainment and worship. I have only belonged to two protestant churches and that was because I moved and needed to find another church. Once I find a good church, I stick to it. I think I mentioned all the reasons why I liked my church in the earlier post, but it certainly doesn’t help that I find Mass to be really dull.

Kendy
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levi86:
Kendy

Perhaps this is the reason why you are reluctant to come back? you mentioned that you believe that the Church is correct on a number of issues but you are still not happy.

Is this because you don’t find the mass exiting? I say this because you asked whether you could still go to a protestant church. I admit that the Mass may not seem exiting to a protestant, so often I hear about Protestants who move to other churches because they don’t feel “filled”. Going to Church is not about you, it’s about worshiping God.

I think sometimes Protestants are more concerned with enjoying themselves rather than worshiping God, with the elusion that entertainment is the same as worship.

If you feel the Doctrine of the Church is true than you should immerse yourself in its form of worship (the Mass). But by all means continue going to Protestant churches and concerts, just don’t confuse your own enjoyment with true worship.

Good luck and God bless
Levi
 
I don’t believe that my feelings at Mass are relevent one way or another. I am there to participate in a miracle…a spiritual reality, that exists whether I feel anything or not. If the rest of my life stinks for some reason, tat doesn’t change the fact that Jesus is right there in the Eucharist and I receive Him and can spend my time in very intimate worship and prayer. I can excercise that spiritual reality that changes my life a little bit more every time.
 
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imroc:
Sounds like a great church that is focused but is missing the fullness! Maybe you could talk a few of them into joining the true Church and help us all out!? Zeal is great and I think it’s very contagious 🙂 . But I do bid you the best and may God Bless you (Sounds like He already has!).
I am sorry but that’s not something I see myself doing right now. I have the deepest respect for the people at my church and I can’t imagine asking them to abandon our church. I can’t even believe I am doing it!

Anyway, I know the Holy Spirit is at work there. I see it everyday. I will let God continue ministering through the the Hyde Park Vineyard since He does it so well.

Kendy
 
Oh, I am obviously not sure. Don’t even get me started with purgatory and indulgences. And NFP. If I were catholic, I couldn’t be those cafeteria ones who do whatever they want. So, I have been spending the past two trying to comfort myself about having eight kids! It’s not a pretty picture :mad:

So, what kept you from going through with it?

Kendy
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Nun_ofthe_Above:
Hi Kendy,
I have to agree with Singinbeauty here; if you feel God is calling you to the Catholic Church, then by all means submit to His will. Please be absolutely certain before you do though. I looked into Catholicism for years and came so close to getting baptized, but several things kept me out. Until I can say with absolute certainty that I agree with the teachings, then I can’t in all good conciousness make that vow to God. It is incredible how sad I felt when I realized I was not ‘joining’ the Church. Perhaps one day…
I digress…Please get some spiritual guidance from a Spiritual director, or a Priest; perhaps they can help you feel happier about your decision. ‘Coming home’ should be a joyous event, You shouldn’t feel like you are a naughty child being drug home by your ear, like it or lump it.
I pray you find the peace you seek.

Peace and love
 
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Kendy:
I know the difference between entertainment and worship. I have only belonged to two protestant churches and that was because I moved and needed to find another church. Once I find a good church, I stick to it. I think I mentioned all the reasons why I liked my church in the earlier post, but it certainly doesn’t help that I find Mass to be really dull.

Kendy
Kendy

I wasn’t trying to offend you mate, but I do understand where your coming from, being a convert myself. I’ve come to appreciate the Mass but I can definitely see how it could seem “dull”.

I think the other problem is that the sermons during the Mass are much shorter than those at protestant churches, and that there is less teaching of the scriptures at a catholic church, well that’s my opinion anyway.

There are many opportunities for Catholics to study the Word. I’m sure there must be numerous study groups at your local parish if not, why not start your own? I’ve just accepted that the Mass is primarily for worship, and if you feel you need a more in-depth sermon by all means go elsewhere as well.

The Mass is important but that’s not all there is, there are many other Catholics that share your views, and I know many people who enjoy a more charismatic Catholic service, this includes Christian rock bands and such.

That’s the beauty of the church, its one of the most diverse churches you will find, despite its reputation 😃

In Christ
Levi
 
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